The mishap started when a Deborah man parked his Toyota Hilux in his drive on the west side of State Highway 1 just north of Bulleids Rd.
Senior Sergeant Wayne Brew, of Oamaru, said the driver pulled the handbrake on, but not properly.
He went inside and the utility ran backwards down the drive and across SH1, through a fence into a paddock and ended up in low branches of a row of macrocarpa trees. The only damage was the loss of two mudflaps.
A Waikouaiti woman driving a Mitsubishi Colt north saw the utility coming, braked and slowed to avoid hitting it.
An Isuzu car transporter came over the brow of the hill behind her, could not stop and pushed her car into a power pole.
The woman, who was the only occupant of the car, received minor injuries in the crash and was taken by ambulance to Oamaru Hospital. Her car had major damage front and rear.
The truck driver was not injured, but his vehicle received frontal damage sufficient for police to order it off the road until it obtained a new certificate of fitness.
Sgt Brew said the first the Toyota owner knew that his utility was involved was when he heard a bang, went outside and saw it was gone.
Investigations were continuing yesterday, to determine if anyone would be charged as a result.
